Earlier this week, Quillblog linked to a blog post about an anonymous blogger’s experience with sexual harassment in the workplace. That post has since gone on to get read, retweeted, linked, and even picked up by The Huffington Post. The post addresses the issue of whether there is an unspoken culture of sexism and harassment in the Canadian publishing industry.

Writing on the Masthead website, author (and Q&Q contributor) Stacey May Fowles suggests that a frank and open discussion of this culture may be the “silver lining” that emerges from the Davidar scandal:

I’ve always viewed publishing culture as a uniquely permissive one, a place where the small labour of love community, long hours, and lack of time for non-work socializing create a more relaxed, familial, and occasionally inappropriate atmosphere. Because of the demanding nature of the job, people find real friendship, love, marriage, and yes, lots and lots of sex in publishing. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

What is wrong is when that kind of sexually charged atmosphere becomes an excuse for exclusion and abuse “ sort of a get on board or get out of the club mentality.

Fowles goes on to state that in the current culture within the publishing industry, “the line between appropriate and inappropriate is so often blurred,” and she quotes from the earlier writer’s comment stream, where several commenters, both anonymous and otherwise, have admitted to feeling uncomfortable in workplace situations. Her ultimate conclusion is that this conversation “is a positive step forward,” something with which Quillblog would agree.